Madonna - a woman who thrives on fame

One of eight children of an engineer father and housewife mother, she was born on August 16, 1958 near the Motown mecca of Detroit - a not inauspicious start for a future queen of pop.

Christened Madonna Louise Ciccone, she was later to comment that with a name like that she could only have entered a convent or become precisely what she did - a pop icon to millions over two decades. When she weds for the second time on Friday, the fairy tale Highland surroundings and traditional Scottish trappings will be far removed from the glitz of her first union with Sean Penn, and although on a grander scale, closer to her Italian-American roots.

This time intimacy among family, friends and co-stars will replace the chaos and public frenzy of the Malibu clifftop wedding. In the privacy of a secluded cottage castle, Madonna will wear cream as she takes her vows in hushed silence, by contrast with the bright pink of the 1985 event, which was drowned out by media helicopters.

Madonna has travelled a long road from the moderately talented teenager who signed up for school plays, cheerleading, piano lessons and dancing classes before winning a scholarship to the University of Michigan.

Here the grind of traditional studies and her lust for success drove her to escape to Paris briefly and then New York in 1978, where, according to the many adoring websites, she arrived with 35 dollars in her pocket.

The first hit, Holiday, followed in 1983. The recipe from then on was simple: catchy tunes and traditional pop lyrics about love. The trend through the decade was to the more open eroticism that found full expression in her use of video, as seen in the sinner in red who kisses a black saint in Like a Prayer in 1989.

The Madonna look was born in these videos and persists to the present: exposed navel, tousled and obviously-dyed hair. The backdrop was often religious, harking back to her Catholic roots, and caused offence to many. But it sold.

At the beginning of the 1990s and by then an international mega- star, Madonna became head of Maverick, a Time Warner subsidiary, securing both an unparalleled deal for herself and her status as hard-headed businesswoman.

The erotic peak came in 1992 when she published Sex, a coffee- table book that featured her in a variety of revealing poses. For this she drew savage criticism for being exploitative - the material girl incarnate. Abandoning the pop idiom for a while, Madonna scored film success in 1985 with Desperately Seeking Susan. Several failed ventures followed until renewed success came with Truth or Dare in 1991, also known as In Bed with Madonna, which documented one of her tours.

In 1996 she starred in the musical Evita - and gave birth to Lourdes, her daughter by Carlos Leon, a personal trainer. The marriage to Penn had lasted less than four years.

By now the image had become less strident, the occasional interviews more thoughtful. There were interests in the Kabbalah and esoteric life forms. Desire for privacy replaced the single-minded quest for publicity of the early years.

This is clearly reflected in the venue for Friday's wedding. Skibo Castle is immune to media encroachment and is regularly used by the rich and famous to get away from it all.

The groom, Guy Ritchie, 32, is a scion of the British establishment - privately schooled and a member of a tradition-laden Scottish clan - but with a rakish image. He is said to call the shots in the relationship that began two years ago and produced Rocco, a son, in August.

Madonna's father clearly approves. Silvio "Tony" Ciccone has reconciled himself to his wayward daughter after years of anguish over her eroticism and use of church symbols. He too will be at Skibo.

(Rohan Minogue/dpa)